Marked for Nick Schmidt
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market22 Nov 2027
Volnei is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at St. Pauli is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tiago Tomás in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Pauli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
A performance of 9.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Nov 2027
No hiding place for Ben Voll
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ben Voll, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Marked 8.81 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
“I watch every St. Pauli game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Werder Bremen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market25 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Volnei
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volnei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around St. Pauli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Joel Chima Fujita was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramy Bensebaini, and the manager let it.
Match23 Oct 2027
Werder Bremen left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Sep 2027
A 2‑0 win over Union Berlin, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” St. Pauli may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market27 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Volnei
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volnei will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around St. Pauli the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Ramy Bensebaini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Ben Voll gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 8.75 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Pauli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Marvin Schwäbe asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Dźwigała, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Werder Bremen can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Jens Stage was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market23 Aug 2027
The shirt still fits. Mattia Bortolussi is back at Werder Bremen, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market23 Aug 2027
The shirt still fits. Tim Spycher is back at Werder Bremen, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I watch every Werder Bremen game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Austria Wien runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Felix Agu
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Werder Bremen has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A new face in his position, and Konrad Laimer suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Werder Bremen have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.